Childers enjoying a successful career at state's Public Employees Retirement System

By Danielle Harrison

Smoke Signals staff writer

GLADSTONE -- Tribal member Debby Childers hasn’t forgotten what it felt like to be a young, single mom with a GED working a low-wage job.

Today, she has a successful career with Oregon’s Public Employees Retirement System and was recently promoted to deferred compensation plan program manager, a world away from being a high school dropout.

Childers, 53, left Willamina High School after becoming pregnant with daughter Andrea at the age of 16 and earned a GED instead of graduating with her class.

A lightbulb moment came after a particularly trying day working as a housekeeper at the Oregon Coast.

“I told myself, ‘I am going back to school and will never do a job like this again,’ ” Childers recalls. “It was rough because I had two young kids, but I never quit. It can be done.”

It took some time, but eventually she earned an associate degree from Chemeketa Community College and then a bachelor’s degree in organizational management from George Fox University in 1999, utilizing the Tribe’s educational programs.

Childers worked for the Tribe from 1992 to 2009, beginning as an administrative assistant and ending as the Member Services manager. After taking a year off for personal reasons, she began working for PERS in 2010 as an intake and review manager, managing a staff of 30.

She originally applied for the deferred compensation manager position six years ago, but wasn’t selected for the job. When the manager announced he would be retiring earlier this year, Childers talked to him about the position and what it entailed, gaining useful information about the interview process.

“When I was at the Tribe, I really enjoyed working with the membership and my intake job was only interacting with staff,” she says. “I really missed interacting with the people I was serving and wanted to do it again.”

This time, Childers was selected from several other candidates for the job.

“Debby’s experience and leadership skills well suit her for this position,” Chief Executive Officer Sam Paris said in an all-employee e-mail. “Please join me in congratulating Debby in this new role.”

Childers is enjoying getting to know her employees, clients and advisory board members.

“I am also looking forward to conferences and traveling again, seeing what I can learn from managers of different programs and also getting more participants involved and contributing to their plans,” she says. “Trying to reach out to stakeholders and get them involved will be one of my biggest goals.”

The deferred compensation manager administers the state’s deferred compensation plan for all state employees and employees of local government who choose to participate. Duties include management of customer services, financial transactions and contractual oversight of the record-keeping services.

Currently, only 43 percent of state employees contribute into the plan, which is similar to an IRA, so one of Childers’ main goals will be to increase it by improving education and outreach to all new employees, and encouraging them to participate. 

Her biggest challenge so far has been working remotely and not having the opportunity to meet anyone besides fellow staff members.

“Just learning the job while being remote, there is a gap and it makes it harder, but I have a wonderful staff who have helped me learn, and a very supportive boss as well.”

As a young mother, Childers never imagined herself where she is today and credits the Tribe’s various programs for much of her success.

“The Tribe’s Education Department is just amazing,” Childers says. “We are so lucky as Tribal members to have this and I am very grateful for the Tribe as a whole. I wouldn’t be where I am without them. It would have been hard to go to school if hadn’t had that support.”

She says the most rewarding part about completing her education and having a career is being a role model for her children, nieces, nephews and grandchildren.

 “They see where education has taken me and what it takes to get a good job,” Childers says. “I would tell anyone who is struggling not to give up. It’s OK to take a little time off, but you got to go back and finish. Think about what you want for your future and not just for today. … Take advantage of the resources we have as Tribal members.”

In her spare time, Childers enjoys “anything crafty” and spending time with family. She is the daughter of Tribal Elder and past Tribal Council member Candy Robertson, and stepfather Jess Robertson; and sister of current Tribal Council member Michael Cherry, past Tribal Council member Angie Blackwell and Diana Robertson. She has four children, Andrea, 36, Jeromey, 32, Raymond, 21, and Edi, 19, as well as seven grandchildren.